Premier League Sunday, Gameweek 35: Open Thread

Each of the final three matches of this Premier League weekend are highly anticipated. The early kick-off sees Manchester United take on Everton at home at 7:30am ET/12:30pm BST. It’s Man United’s chance to go eight points ahead at the top of the Premier League table and put added pressure on Manchester City, who plays at 11am away at Wolverhampton Wanderers. On paper, both games should be relatively easy wins for both Manchester clubs, but just as Wigan as shown in recent weeks, you should never underestimate your opponent.

Everton will be without Leighton Baines and Royston Drenthe, so Manchester United will be playing the Toffees at just the right time. In the game at Molineux, Manchester City will be hoping to score as many goals as possible to continue to increase the +4 goal difference they currently have over Manchester United.

Meanwhile, in the third and final match of the day, it’s Roy Hodgson’s return to Anfield where West Bromwich Albion will play Liverpool. Based on the recent form table, Liverpool has the third worst home form in the league. To keep the pressure off manager Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool will need to win this game otherwise you can guarantee the press will be comparing Hodgson’s Liverpool record side-by-side with that of Dalglish.

Before, during and after today’s Premier League matches, share your rants, raves, questions and observations in the comments section below.

About Christopher Harris

Founder and publisher of World Soccer Talk, Christopher Harris is the managing editor of the site. He has been interviewed by The New York Times, The Guardian and several other publications. Plus he has made appearances on NPR, BBC World, CBC, BBC Five Live, talkSPORT and beIN SPORT.
Harris, who has lived in Florida since 1984, has supported Swansea City since 1979. He's also an expert on soccer in South Florida, and got engaged during half-time of a MLS game.
Harris launched EPL Talk in 2005, which was rebranded as World Soccer Talk in 2013.
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He’s got a good point though! I don’t understand why people leave early after they’ve paid good money to be there… never mind it being 4-4 and you need to snatch a last minute winner in order to help your title hopes!

hey Pool fans maybe Woy was not the problem,you were a little hard on him.then you are going to finish below your blue neighbors but you have the beer cup and a shot at the FA Cup and no Europe strange season.

Roy wasn’t the problem. The problems started under Rafa losing to the lower teams and it’s just got worse. We’ve won 1 cup, possibly win another in a couple of weeks so it’s not a total failure. We’re already guaranteed European football next season.

Any other club in the league around the same positioning as Liverpool in the table would be overjoyed at winning a cup and being in the final to try and win another one but for Liverpool it’s all seen as predominately irrelevant because of the league form and people’s expectations of them because of the name and badge and history that comes with it. It’s still a great achievement to walk away with silverware but on the flip side the league is your priority. It’s your livelihood and I’d take a league title over any Champions League or domestic cups every day of the week.

What alarmed me last week was an interview Kenny did with his daughter on ESPN in which he said ‘money isn’t the answer’… he acted like he was just hoping his squad would work miracles of their own accord over night and that worries me deeply! Is he the man for the job? Personally, no I don’t think he is. I’ve always adored Kenny because of everything he’s done as a player and because he feels everything about Liverpool that the fans who pack out the Kop each week feel but as for taking the club into a proposed new era I don’t think he’s up to the challenge. It’ll be a very interesting summer this year to see who comes and who goes… manager included.

As for finishing below Everton, that’s nothing for anybody to worry about. It’ll be hell for a few weeks having to work alongside them and hearing them brag about it non stop but they soon get bored. If nothing else, it makes the banter better and gets us all hotted up even more for the new season! If you want my honest opinion… I’m fully expecting to finish in the bottom half of the table this season but in a warped way it will be a good thing because it’s the only way to give everybody concerned with the club, from owners down, the real kick up the a*se they need.

Well put Paul. The media and all of Liverpool’s critics focus too much on the fact that Liverpool haven’t had a very good league season. In my opinion, they put too much emphasis on Liverpool’s illustrious history as to why they should be winning more. Liverpool’s history is no way to tell that they are having a sub par season. They should be judged on who they have playing and how they play, not on how many league titles they have won in the past. Personally i think that Liverpool have played well in most of their games this season, they just haven’t been hitting the friendly side of the posts ALL SEASON LONG. Still isn’t a good enough excuse for where they are in the league table right now, but it is a positive sign that they can get to that point to hit the posts. Just need to work on finishing in the off season.

Agreed. There have been times when you wonder who has turned up and it’s got to the point now before any match we sit there asking ‘Wonder which side will turn up today?!’. On the whole though, they’ve not played terribly… the match yesterday for example, they dominated and had plenty of chances but they haven’t got the forward to finish the job off. Defensively they’re not doing too bad as it’s only the two Manchester clubs above them in those stakes. Considering they’ve not won a league title since the 1989/90 season I’d say it was good enough time as any to stop referring to them as part of the big league in the press, stop throwing such negative light on how they’re not performing to their full potential and leave them to sort out their issues internally instead of constantly feeling like they’ve got to live up to this hype. With that much weight on your shoulders I genuinely pity anybody who takes on the mangers job there because no matter how many trophies they win unless they’re at least putting on a decent title challenge they’re classed as a failure. League is over now apart from the mini battle of local bragging rights with Everton, so it’s all on the FA Cup this season and then it’s heads down and go into the summer and we’ll see what happens…

I really don’t think that Liverpool have played that bad at all this season. Sure they have had their games and spells where they played poorly, but so has both Manchester City AND Manchester United. One of whom will win the league. So to put such harsh criticism upon Liverpool for not living up to what they have achieved in the past is just foolish. Liverpool’s first choice back line this season of Johnson, Agger, Skrtel, and Enrique is really solid. Agger and Skrtel in the center of defense, with Johnson and Enrique on the wings going forward. Not to mention Enrique is able to defend more properly than Johnson. Liverpool have shown that they can pass and move really well and quite effectively for the most part. Now we’re not talking Barcelona effective where they can cut most teams apart, but effective enough to create a lot of decent chances. It’s the finishing that has really let Liverpool down this season and that includes penalties. I read somewhere that Liverpool have hit the frame of the goal 30 times so far this season, more than any team since the 2000 season. If you take even half of those and turn them into goals, we would be talking about a different story right now. I’m not saying that Liverpool would be challenging for the league but I do think that the criticisms’ would be of a different nature and not near as heavy. Liverpool has dominated a number of games this season in which they just didn’t get the win. Games such as Arsenal, Fulham, Norwich and Swansea. Just a frustrating season, but I really think that they need to give Kenny some more time. After all, if Liverpool finish below Everton or even worse, how much worse could it really get. They have a lot of quality in the team and I personally think that that alone will keep them in the top half of the table, AT LEAST. But with more time to figure things out they will finish better next season.

My United has tried so hard to give the title to City and next monday, City will take it. Fergie is to blame. Instead of getting a solid d-man after Vidic went down he thinks Rafael and Evans are the answer. They are bums. Rio, scholes and giggs are too old. After they lose the title this year and Fergie doesn’t get a quality midfielder, d-man and goalkeeper (DeGea a bum also) then last year is his last title he will ever win.